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Chapter 4: Understanding the Mind

My Beloved Ones,

This morning I spoke about the first step for a seeker. I also spoke about the different ways to purify the body. In the second layer of man’s personality are his thoughts. The body should be pure and the mind should also be pure. The third layer is the emotions, and when the emotions are pure then the foundation for meditation is ready. When these three things have happened you will experience great joy. There will be tremendous peace in your life. If these three things have been accomplished, you will have a new life.

But these are just the basic steps to prepare you for meditation. In a sense, they are the outer practice. The inner practice is still deeper - in it we surrender the body, thoughts and emotions to purify them and make them empty. In the outer practice the body is purified, in the inner practice the body is surrendered. You enter a bodiless state, you enter a state of no-mind and you enter a state which is free of emotions. But before this can happen it is first necessary to remove the impurities within yourself.

I have spoken to you about the body; now I will speak about thoughts. What are the impurities of the mind?

Thoughts are very whimsical. Thoughts also leave an impression on the mind, whether good or bad. The things that a person thinks will also affect his personality. If someone is thinking of beauty, if a person is constantly reflecting on beauty, it is quite natural that it will also make his personality more beautiful. If someone is thinking about God, about the divine, and his thoughts revolve around this, it is natural that his life will become filled with the divine. If someone is thinking about truth it is natural that truth will become part of him.

In this context I would like to ask you to reflect on the things which are constantly on your mind. What do you think about all the time? Most of you are either thinking about money, sex or power.

Many years ago there was a king in China. One day he went to the border of his kingdom which was by the ocean, and he took his chief minister with him. They were both standing at the top of a hill watching the ocean which stretched for miles. There were many ships sailing by, coming and going, and the king asked the minister, “How many ships are coming in and how many are going out?”

The minister replied, “My lord, if you want the truth, there are only three ships coming in and three going out.”

The king said, “Three? There are so many ships out there, don’t you see them?”

The minister replied, “I have seen only three ships: one of money, one of sex and one of power. We spend our whole lives traveling on these three ships.”